Amanda Seyfried says winning an Oscar ‘isn’t necessary’ for success

Amanda Seyfried believes winning an Oscar isn't necessary for career success, emphasising the importance of nominations. Photo / Instagram / @mingey (Amanda Seyfried)

Amanda Seyfried thinks winning an Oscar “isn’t necessary” for career success.

The 40-year-old star believes people quickly forget who wins a gong, and that a nomination is better because it boosts a star’s career and visibility.

Asked if winning an Oscar is important to her, Seyfried told The New Yorker: “No. Do you remember who won in the past 10 years?

“It’s not the win that’s important. It’s the nomination. It does thrust you forward. That’s a fact. Now, do I need one in a week or two or whenever? No, of course, I don’t. Would it be great? Of course it would, for every reason. But it isn’t necessary.”

Ultimately, the actress – who bagged her first Oscar nomination in 2021 for her performance as Hollywood starlet Marion Davies in the 2020 biopic Mank, which was about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz – believes a long, successful career comes from making smart, meaningful choices, and not from awards.

Seyfried, who could be in the running at the 2026 Academy Awards following her nominations for her titular role as Ann Lee at this year’s Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, added: “Longevity in an actor’s career is designed.

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“Longevity is about deliberate choices to make art among the big commercial things that are fun and pay. But, for me, all of it is art.

“Yes, The Housemaid is a thriller that didn’t cost a lot to make, and made a lot of money, and is a box-office hit. And yet every single choice I made in that movie was as artful as the choices I made in Ann Lee.

“I finally was able to marry the two in my heart and in my head, and I realised that is what I want for the rest of my career. I’m going to jump between genres as much as I can, and jump between indies and studios. So I’ve gotten this far without an Oscar. Why would I need one now?”

And amid making thoughtful choices, Seyfried, who will find out if she has been nominated for a 2026 Oscar on Thursday, understands that career success goes up and down.

She said: “I feel I’m already proven. I’m getting people to trust me to do hard things.

“We all have ebbs and flows in our careers, and how we’re perceived can change from day to day, but I’m consistent in my choices, and I’m consistent in my values and my needs.

“I’m also sitting pretty right now, because The Housemaid made money. That’s not always the case. Sometimes you’re in Mamma Mia! Sometimes, you do something like Ted 2, or A Million Ways to Die in the West, which were both supposed to do big box office, and underperformed.”